Good Things Come…
by Levana Fay
Summary: A story that begins with the ending scene in Season five's episode 'Lost and Found'. Jibbs. Jenny is not ill in this story.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: The ending scene in Season five's episode 'Lost and Found', with a distinctly Jibbs end. Jenny is not ill in this story.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs watched as Carson ran to his father and his step mother, embracing them in joy the moment they turned to look in his direction as they exited the elevator, the short separation having brought no end of fear and sadness to the three family members, especially the father, who had been in danger of being sent to prison for a crime he hadn't committed. The case had been solved, with Carson's theft of Jenny's phone surprisingly being what led them to getting the cooperation from his father to help close the case. Now the boy's father was free to come back to civilisation and pick him up from NCIS, take him and his wife home and live without the fear his family will be taken away from him.

It had been a relatively short case, but Carson's childish manner and innocence had made them all feel connected with him in a way, and the team had noticed a strange similarity between the boy and their very own Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, as the both of them were constantly quoting films and generally behaving in a juvenile manner. In fact no, Carson had at times seemed more mature than DiNozzo, who despite his physical age, still retained the mind of a teenager. Ironically it was DiNozzo who was the only one who couldn't, or wouldn't, see the similarities between himself and the ten year old Carson. They were all sad to see him go, and they knew better than to tell the child they would see him again, but the parting was still sad.

Jethro looked away from the tearful reunion, glancing up to the balcony overlooking the bullpen, knowing that Jenny would be there to see off her temporary young house guest, even if she only did so from afar, and he was right. She was leaning on the railing, smiling as she watched Carson being enveloped in a group hug from both of his parents, the jovial voices carrying up to her on the floor above, but the smile was a bittersweet one which didn't reach her eyes. She saw him looking and turned her gaze to him, her smile widening for a moment, showing him her real contentment at seeing the happy family until she looked away, back at Carson. The sadness crept back into her expression then, her smile becoming less sincere and more of a shield from the truth that she was visibly just now admitting to herself.

If she was ever going to have a child, it would have to be now, or never. Perhaps she had come to that conclusion last night, perhaps that was why she had invited him to stay with her, or maybe it was just the fact he had not come to her home in anger, as was the case more and more these days. She had probably relaxed into the easy camaraderie that had settled between them just like he had, and he'd enjoyed it, the reminder that underneath the Director, Jenny was still a woman and she was still his friend.

He looked away from her and back at Carson, a wide smile breaking out on his own face as the young boy waved at him, saying goodbye with a huge cheeky grin plastered on his face. Gibbs nodded to the boy's father and then watched the family walk away, back into the elevator. Another case closed with a positive outcome for all involved, except the murderer of course. He glanced back up at Jenny, only to see her retreating form walking away from where she had been leaning, and disappearing back into her office.

Gibbs sighed and walked to his desk, sitting behind it and looking at his computer, ready now to finish writing up his report on the case, his team already with their heads glued to their screens and fingers flying over their keyboards as they anticipated his order to do the same. He began writing, but found his attention wandering to the night before, when he had put the final nail in the coffin, so to speak.

Carson had stolen Jenny's phone, called him, and asked him to go over to her house, which had surprised him at first. He hadn't thought that Carson would come to him to talk since they had had so little contact, but then he was the team leader, so he probably should have expected him to. He hadn't gone over right away though, not wanting Carson to think he was at his beck and call, and unsure as to what his reception from Jenny would be.

As it had turned out, she had smiled as she opened her front door and invited him in, even though he had arrived unannounced, which she had been grumpy about in the past. Her tone had been light and teasing and a mischievous glint had been present in her eyes as she had spoken with him, but her comment about him being good with children was probably the last playful thing she would say to him now.

"Goodnight boss." McGee said dropping a file on top of his desk as he passed it, and abruptly pulling Gibbs from his thoughts. Jethro realised with a start that he had been staring at his computer, doing nothing, while his team had all finished their paperwork and left.

He sighed and stretched, rubbing his hands over his face tiredly and casting his gaze up at the door leading to Jenny's office. He hadn't noticed her leave yet, but then he hadn't exactly been paying attention to anything but his thoughts for the last hour. She would avoid him anyway; she had taken a big risk by asking him in a roundabout way to stay the night, and he had shot her down with a smirk on his face. He cringed internally at how cruel and abrupt he had been, and what made him feel worse was that she had just accepted it with a resigned smile.

He looked up at her office again worriedly; maybe he shouldn't have been so final in his choice of words, maybe he really had destroyed the last shred of hope, the final chance that they'd had of being together again. Was it too late to mend that bridge? Or would she just pretend it had never happened? Although he was reluctant to trust her with his heart again, he didn't want to lose her friendship as he had with every other woman he had dated or married.

She was the only one who he could honestly say had been in a relationship with him, and could still tease, talk to and joke with him after it ended without being superficial. A woman like Jenny was hard to find, and the fact was it had been very difficult to turn her down, but he had done it for her. She probably didn't see it that way, she just saw the rejection, but he had been looking out for her.

He was a hot blooded male who was not usually stupid enough to pass up a sure thing, but if he had stayed, and he would have if Carson hadn't been there, she would have resented him for taking advantage of her while she was in a broody mood. The morning light would have brought all of the reasons she had run away from him before, nine years ago, crashing back and they would have been left with an awkward mess.

It had been both lucky and unfortunate that Carson was there, and he was both relieved and annoyed at the fact he had narrowly avoided sleeping with her just because of the effect that Carson's presence in her house had had on her. She had been unconsciously nesting; the presence of the child bringing to life the longing for her own, and then _he_ had stopped by. He wasn't being egotistical, but the fact that she had been with him before made him the ideal candidate to father her child.

Gibbs leaned back in his chair and scrubbed his hands over his face again, knowing he wasn't going to get his report finished if he couldn't keep his mind off of her. He loved her though, and he **did** want to be with her, but he wanted any decisions about relationships and children to be made in the light of day, away from outside influences and with genuine feelings, not because he was the only man around that was interested. He rolled his eyes at himself and amended that thought, a lot of men were interested, but apparently she couldn't trust them, or just didn't want to have a child with any of them.

He jerked forward out of his reclining position, his last thought making a cold feeling of dread settle in his stomach. He recalled the miserable look on her face as she had watched Carson hug his parents, and the false smile she had given him when she had caught him watching her, and his gut rolled in unease. She hadn't trusted any other man but him, and he had refused her, he had rejected her out of hand without even a great deal of consideration. He had sullied her trust in a vicious manner without regard for what his words would do to her and now she was resigning herself to accepting she would never be a mother.

He was standing and rounding his desk before he registered the movement, his legs carrying him up the stairs and into Cynthia's office as if they had minds of their own. He noticed that Cynthia was not in, she must have gone home already and the urgency to see Jenny almost left him, but she had stayed behind many times before. He reached for Jenny's office door and turned the handle but found that the door was locked. She had sneaked past him and left after all, at what time he had no idea. He grunted in annoyance and prepared to go to get his things and drive to her house when his mind finally caught up with him and he froze where he was.

What was he doing? Was he rushing off to see Jenny so he could ask if he could sleep with her now her house was empty? Was he really going to offer to have a child with her? He needed to go home and think through what exactly he was wanting from her very carefully, or he would just make things worse. Maybe in the morning he wouldn't feel so guilty about what he had said to her, perhaps he would wake up and wonder what the hell he had been thinking.

One thing was for sure though, it was a very lucky thing that Jenny was not here, or he would have made some kind of offer that he wasn't entirely sure he could carry through on, and if any of what he hoped for had even a possibility of happening, it was dependent upon whether Jenny even wanted to speak to him outside of the office anymore. Jenny didn't forgive easily, everyone knew that after the last year of her obsession with La Grenouille, but she had always forgiven him for the things he did or said. Would his luck hold out?

* * *

A.N.: This is not going to be updated quite as often as my other stories as I am stretching my available writing time as it is. It won't be that long between updates, it just won't be every week so it won't be on my profile update schedule. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A.N.: Thank you to alix33, babyred1995, BritMonkey, MissJayne, Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs and JenniferS. DNCIS for reviewing! Thanks you also for being patient with this story. My sister told me I'd made Gibbs a little bit soppy in the last chapter, so I tried to make him a little more rational in this one, lol.

The farm report droning on was the first thing that Jethro heard when he blearily opened his sticky eyes, his vision swimming for a moment before gravity stabilised itself and he looked around at the familiar sight of his basement. He blinked a few times and then rolled out of the cabin, standing up on the deck of his boat, which he had fallen asleep in last night while he had been busy staining the wood. The smelly stain was right next to his head and still thankfully in the pot, the lid lying on his workbench, the brush lying haphazardly over the tin, a small stain underneath the bristle end where it had dropped off and soaked in to the unprotected wood, which was going to be stained later, luckily, and then waxed.

He groaned slightly as he stretched his back, the resounding cracks a reminder of his age and how he really should be sleeping on a mattress instead of wood. He rubbed his neck and then scrubbed a hand through his hair, dislodging the sawdust that seemed to take up permanent residence as soon as he stepped foot in his house, regardless of whether he had done any sanding lately. He was still tired, he had fallen asleep more due to exhaustion than any desire to become unconscious, as he had spent most of the night doing some much needed soul searching. He was no closer to an answer to his unspoken question however, and in the here and now, in the light of day, he _still_ wasn't sure he could ever answer it.

He reluctantly reached for his cell phone, which he thought must have been what had awoken him, but instead he found that he had no missed calls or text messages. What had woke him up then? He looked at the TV suspiciously, wondering if he had actually turned it on last night and found he was unable to answer that question too. Slightly annoyed by his inability to respond to his own mind he decided that he needed his morning caffeine kick, and he walked up the stairs and into his kitchen, approaching his coffee maker with the instinctive zombie-walk of all early risers.

He switched it on, put a cup under the receptacle and waited, staring at the brown liquid for the long minute it needed to boil and then he breathed in happily as it slowly poured into his cup, the heavenly aroma releasing into the air. As soon as it finished pouring, he snatched it up and took a long drink, the heat of the liquid not bothering him in the slightest. The caffeine brought with it the much needed clarity that he had been lacking and he gripped his cup tight, recalling why he was soul searching in the first place.

Jenny. He cringed as he thought of how close he had come to rushing into her office and asking her to mother his child, which was not something he would ever ask, under any circumstances, at any time. What had he been thinking? He downed the rest of his coffee, deciding that he would never think of it again, and then he wandered up the stairs and into his bathroom to conduct his morning business. Half an hour later he was washed, shaved and freshly dressed, striding down his stairs and walking to his car, hoping for a case to keep his mind busy.

Unfortunately, the day passed slowly and he spent his time going over cold cases while trying to stop his eyes from straying up to the balcony every time Jenny crossed it. He failed miserably and was both strangely glad he saw her, while feeling very guilty about what he witnessed. She was very subdued today, and she was careful to never let her eyes wander down towards the squad room, trying to avoid even _looking_ at him. He sighed at the mess he had made; she had taken his rejection badly, much worse than he had thought, which meant that yesterday was just for show, so the team didn't think something was wrong. If that was the game she had been playing, she really should have avoided Abby.

The moment Gibbs strode into Abby's lab, Caf-Pow in hand to appease the bored forensic scientist, he almost collided with her unmoving form. She had stood two steps away from the door, her arms crossed and a murderous expression plastered on her face, which was unusual for the bubbly Goth, and he suddenly knew something was seriously wrong, and that somehow he was the cause. She narrowed her eyes further at him and took a step towards him, snatching the Caf-Pow from his hands. She turned and walked to her desk, placing it on the surface and then rounded on him once more.

"Why was mommy upset yesterday? What have you done to her?" She demanded and Gibbs found that he was annoyed that he had to defend himself from the anger of the girl he thought of as a daughter, just because the woman she had only _recently_ adopted as 'mommy' was upset. What had happened to the days when she would get angry with others instead of him?

"I haven't done anything to her." he replied smartly as the answer to both questions. Abby's eyes narrowed even further and she turned away, picking up her Caf-Pow and taking a long drink. Gibbs smirked slightly, recognising her very own unique brand of interrogation technique and then quickly wiped it from his face as she turned back.

"Ok. Let's say I believe you… Why is it that she came down here with that Jethro-is-a-bastard look on her face?" Abby asked, bravely using his 'first' name and bastard in the same sentence.

"I must have missed that look." He answered, failing to keep his face straight.

"Gibbs, this is serious! I can usually cheer her up, but this time everything I did just seemed to make her more miserable. Even Burt didn't help!" she cried, picking up the farting Hippo and throwing it at him angrily. He caught it, the Hippo letting out a long raspberry in his hands and causing a small smile to threaten on her face.

His mirth disappeared completely however, and he admitted to himself that yes, this was serious, but was he contemplating the right thing by giving her the baby she so desperately seemed to want? Hadn't he decided this morning that he wasn't considering it anymore? Was it really going to help if he guilted himself into sleeping with her? Wasn't he getting ahead of himself by assuming she was still interested in sleeping with him? Was it really guilt that was prompting this turn of thought? He sighed, it looked like he had some more soul searching to do tonight, and this time he needed answers.

"I'll get to the bottom of it Abs." he promised, placing the hippo on one of her machines, and then he walked out of her lab, waited for the elevator and then went down to autopsy, hoping Ducky was in. He entered the bright sterile environment quickly and saw that Ducky was indeed in, so he began to fire off the question he needed answering by someone else before he could change his mind.

"Duck, I need to know what the probability of a woman in her forties, with a stressful, time consuming job conceiving a child is." He said and Ducky turned his stunned, calculating gaze to him. They stared at each other for a few seconds and then Ducky answered quickly.

"An average forty year old woman would have about a twenty to thirty percent chance of conception, depending upon how often she received a… donation." He replied and Gibbs nodded gratefully.

"Thanks Duck." He said and then turned to leave, only to be stopped by the elderly ME's voice.

"Does this have something to do with the Director's foul mood?" he asked lightly, and Gibbs was suddenly very glad Jimmy wasn't in right then. He turned back to Ducky and walked back towards him, so he was standing by his side.

"In a very _indirect_ sort of way, Duck, yes." He answered; making sure that Ducky wouldn't start a rumour mill because of one simple question. Ducky pursed his lips and then nodded to himself, as if he had just had something undesirable proven to him.

"I understand Jethro. Young Carson has her wishing she had made different choices in her life." He said and then he tilted his head, considering how to word his next sentence. "You don't owe her _anything_, Jethro. She made her choice." He continued gently, in an attempt to reign in Gibbs' uncharacteristic need to please Jenny.

"I know Duck; she says she had to do what was best for her." Gibbs said by way of explanation, but Ducky shook his head. If Jethro hadn't been getting annoyed with his supposed best friend's resistance to this decision, he might well have agreed with him, since their conversation almost mirrored what he himself had said to Jenny the other day.

"Regret is no reason to have a child." He said emphatically, and this time Jethro paused. Is that why he was doing this? No, he didn't think so, but then he hadn't been thinking straight all day. He just thought of how upset Jenny had been when she watched Carson embrace his parents, and he wanted to erase that expression, to never see it again. He wanted her to be happy, happy with him was a plus but they had so much baggage that he was unsure if they could ever sort it out. A child might help them on the way to an understanding, and then maybe on to relationship.

He did regret letting her get away nine years ago, if he had followed her, perhaps they would already have children. They could have been happy, Stephanie would never have happened and Jenny could still have pursued her career, although the voice at the back of his mind told him she would never have gotten the directorship. The men's club on The Hill were not pleased about a woman in the director's chair; a woman with split priorities between her job and her family would be unthinkable. She had proven herself now though, so that made it different if she should decide to have a family now while she still can.

"So what is?" Jethro asked back, glaring at the elderly man before him angrily as he questioned his motives without asking directly. He usually appreciated his way with people, but now it was being turned on him he was not amused. The decision of what to do and everything Jethro had painstakingly considered last night, this morning and even a few moments ago, seemed to boil down to this one simple question.

"Love, fidelity-" Ducky began to tell him a multitude of reasons but he had hit the right ones first time, so Jethro impatiently cut him off, his mind finally made up. He hadn't admitted that he wanted a love child with Jenny to himself, and by not saying it out loud to anyone else he was putting off the inevitable realisation in the hopes he wouldn't feel the same rejection Jenny had if she refused him, which she had every right to do.

"Right." He said with a touch of finality and walked swiftly away out of autopsy, the doors closing behind him, not hearing the sigh and the last word that followed him, the one Ducky knew both Jenny and Jethro had a problem with.

"Commitment."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A.N.: Thank you to alix33, fredesrojo, MissJayne, itzcheeseball, JenniferS. DNCIS, Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, jstapny, jmarrero16, HesMines, JiBbS-tIvA4eVs and commandingskipper23 for reviewing!

It's been a long time since I updated this story hasn't it? See that's what happens when I don't force myself to stick to a schedule, but I still don't have the time to work on three stories at the moment. I promise I'll update sooner next time! Oh and don't worry about the end of this chapter, it isn't to scare you, it's to scare them. They hash things out better when they are angry and I just couldn't manipulate them into actually talking about babies without their tempers forcing them to. Jenny is too hurt and wary of Gibbs for that now.

* * *

Jenny paced the length of her office, as she had been doing since the problem of hers and Jethro's ever changing friendship had come to mind. She sighed, the word 'friendship' was not exactly how she would have ever phrased it before, but he had made it clear the other night that he thought nothing of her, at least not romantically. She wasn't even on his radar. In fact she was so off his radar she didn't even qualify as a casual fling. He hadn't even thought about it when he had said no, it had been automatic and heartfelt.

She doubted he would sleep with her even if she got him blind drunk and was the only woman around. He would probably go home alone or pick up a hooker instead. She stopped her pacing and covered her face with her hands in shame, feeling more miserable than she had ever felt before. She rated lower than a hooker to Jethro, she hadn't even been aware that that was possible. He must really hate her, or else she just wasn't as attractive as she used to be. Maybe he hadn't loved her back then, maybe he had never loved her; he had probably just used her because she had been willing, because she loved him.

Hot tears pricked behind her eyes and she began to well up, her control over her emotions tenuous at best. She shook herself sharply and quickly blinked them away, not wanting to break down or have her makeup run. She could always redo it, but she didn't want to have to bother, especially since she was wasting whatever free time she'd had this weekend by pacing her office instead of working. She rounded her desk and sat down; trying to concentrate on the large pile of files that she had to read and then sign today, but it was difficult.

After three hours she had read five files, with only three of those being signed off on as she had decided to reread the other two later, when she could understand what they were about. She angrily threw down the one she was currently trying to read through, sending her cell phone skittering across the desk and over the edge, hearing it clatter to the ground almost immediately once it was out of sight. Jenny took a deep breath and then curled forwards, resting her head on the desk in humiliation.

Why had she propositioned him? What had she been thinking? It was a little wonder that he had turned her down; she must have seemed like a desperate shrew trying to jump anyone that happened to come to her door. It wasn't like she had proposed marriage but he had almost recoiled in horror when she had opened her mouth. She could still hear the distain in his voice when he had spoken to her, when he had burned the last bridge that he had with her.

Carson's entrance into her life had really put things into perspective for her. She could have had a child at any point in her life, she had thought about it many times during her time with a certain someone, but back then her career had been the driving force of her life and she had passed on that opportunity. She hadn't thought she would be missing out on anything she couldn't get from someone else. She had known that leaving Jethro was a mistake of course, that was what had made the decision so damned hard, but losing the chance for a family hadn't even registered.

It hadn't been something she wanted back then, not enough to pursue at least, not enough to get past imagination. She had believed there would be plenty of time, that there would be another Jethro for her, one that loved her as much as she loved him, one that was willing to let her into his heart as well as his bed. She had been wrong about that. There would never be another Jethro for her, there would never be any man that could take his place and as of last night, there was no chance she would get Jethro himself back. She was alone and she always would be, until the day she dies.

This time she didn't stop the tears, she didn't have the strength left to even try. She wasn't sure how long she spent with her head down on the desk, crying into the cradle of her arms as her dreams of a loving husband and a family returned to torment her, her chance of ever getting either disappearing completely. She couldn't help but think of them, of what could have been even though just doing that caused an agony so intense she thought she must be dying.

Her arms cushioned her ears, so she never heard Cynthia come in to find out what the sound she could hear was, and then walk back out, carefully closing the door behind herself. By the time she had cried herself out of tears it was pitch black outside the windows, leaving her office in complete darkness. She reached over for the lamp that stood on her desk and flicked it on, flinching as the light filled her red eyes, which were raw from crying for so long, and sensitive from getting used to the dark.

She sat back in her chair and stared at the dark wood of her desk, expecting to still feel miserable or ashamed, but she was pleasantly numb. She gathered together the files that she still had to read and placed them into her briefcase, knowing that she had to finish them before tomorrow and now feeling able to do it. She stood up and purposefully walked into her bathroom to wash her face and reapply her makeup, for appearances more than anything else. It would help to disguise the fact she had been crying and make it look like everything was business as usual.

She put her coat on, grabbed her briefcase and then walked towards the door, stopping suddenly when something crunched underfoot. She stepped back and looked down, rolling her eyes and bending to retrieve her now broken cell phone. She had put her heel through the screen. She slipped it into her pocket with a sigh and resolved to buy another one tomorrow before she came to work, then opened her office door.

Cynthia's office was empty and her coat and bag were gone, which meant she had gone home already, serving to highlight just how late it was. Jenny drew her eyebrows together in confusion when she realised the outer door was closed as well as her office door. She usually only closed it when she was getting ready to shout at someone or she was having a meeting about sensitive cases. She closed her eyes and shame once again began to creep up on her. Cynthia must have heard her and closed the outer door so no one else could overhear.

Jenny quickly exited Cynthia's office, locking both doors and walked to the elevator, noticing that Gibbs' team was still in despite the fact they had no active cases. She had to feel sorry for them, Jethro worked his team so hard it bordered on unfair, but they rose to the challenge every time and never failed to solve the cases they undertook.

It made her proud to see, and she knew that Jethro felt it even more, but he never let his team know that. She shook her head as his unfairness struck her once again and she pressed the call button for the elevator, turning away from the inquisitive glances that were being sent her way. She sighed; she should have known that Abby would have shared her concerns with just about everyone by now.

When she had gone to see Abby, she had been looking for an escape from Jethro, and he never spent that much time down in her lab, so she could talk to Abby without being interrupted by him. Abby had the uncanny ability to set her at ease in the worst situations and she did that by talking to her like they were equal, there was no distinction between higher ups and probie's with Abby, everyone was her friend.

It was lovely to be around her because she had no fear for her job either, she is the best and she did a lot of work by herself that other forensic scientists would balk at, and she knew it. She is invaluable for both her expertise and her heart, which was large enough to encompass everyone in NCIS, and she showed it daily with her bone crushing hugs. The best quality though was the one she had gone to see her for yesterday; her ability to talk for hours.

It was calming to sit and listen to Abby chatter about things like new equipment that was coming out that was better than what she had got now, how often she was published and an in-depth narration of what she had written, men, forensic seminars and a myriad of other things. Jenny hardly needed to respond and it took all of her focus just to follow what she was saying, so no other thoughts could distract her.

Yesterday however, Abby had been obsessed with talking about Carson. The young boy had impressed the team, mainly with his similarity to DiNozzo, which both had been oblivious to, and Abby had recounted every moment she had spent with the boy, laughing over his fascination with her tattoos. Jenny had listened as well as she could, but her heart had broken more with each word she had heard, staring desolately at the stuffed hippo that Abby had thrust at her, in the hopes it would cheer her up. Everything Abby described was what she was missing out on, what she would never have, and in the end she'd had to make a hasty exit.

Thinking back, Abby asking 'mommy' what was wrong had been the straw that broke the camel's back. She knew that her abrupt goodbye had hurt Abby, but she simply hadn't been able to answer her or hear anymore about Carson or any oblique references to motherhood and family. It wasn't Abby's fault of course, she had no idea what was running through Jenny's head.

Jenny stepped into the elevator as soon as she could and travelled in silence to the car park. Her driver would be waiting in the car now, itching to go home, but he wouldn't leave without her; he wouldn't dare. He was responsible for her safety; her very life in some cases. It was too dangerous for her to take a cab anywhere, it was simply tempting fate. She had to be driven by thoroughly approved people, and those people were usually her very own Agents.

Melvin looked up from his newspaper and quickly put it and his pen away; abandoning the crossword as she finally stepped into view and crossed the short distance towards him. He jumped out of the car and opened the back door for her, closing it again for her once she was in the car. He then jumped back into the driver's seat and drove her home. Melvin wasn't as talkative as Stanley had been and that was a mixed blessing. On the one hand he didn't strike up idle conversation for the sake of it, but if he did talk to her he required her continued input to carry on.

They pulled up in front of her house and he helped her out of the car. She thanked him and then walked up to her house and let herself in, watching him drive away only once she was across the threshold. She smiled at the formality, certain that the last place anyone would attack her was her own house. She locked the door behind her and then left her briefcase in the entrance hall, more intent upon getting stress free than building up more on top of what she already had. Besides, she didn't want to go into the study; Carson's presence hadn't left yet.

Jenny took the stairs two at a time as she ascended up to her bedroom, stripping off the top layers of her clothes on the way. She really wanted a nice relaxing bath right now, so she headed straight into her bathroom and turned on the taps. A few minutes later she was easing herself into the hot bubbly water, the heavenly scent of aromatherapy bath oils in the air. The heat permeated her skin and relaxed her tired, aching muscles allowing a long sigh to escape her lips.

She didn't want to think about Jethro now, or any of the children that she would never have, or Carson; she just wanted to relax and let her troubles drift away, but her relaxed state served the opposite purpose. It was all she could think about. The tears began anew and this time she merely curled her legs up and cried, unwilling to stop them, to bottle everything up. She was safe at home and no one could see her. This was a secret between herself and her bath tub, and she knew the tub would never tell.

When finally the tears ran dry once more, Jenny leaned her head back in the tub and closed her eyes, willing her breathing to even out. She promised herself she would finish this bath first and then get started on the paper work she had brought home. The water was still warm and the comfort of it lulled her into laying back in it, to enjoy it properly. The stress that had been relieved by her crying session left her languid and her breathing fell into an easy rhythm. Jenny fell asleep in the relaxing warm water, her head slowly slipping down the side of the bath and under the water.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A.N.: Thank you everyone for your patience. I hope you like this chapter! Special thanks to Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs, xxhiphuggersxx, Zanessaxwillxlivex4ever, alix33, Jennifer Caitlin DiNozzo, MissJayne, jstapny, Shai Hoff, HesMines and redorchid23 for reviewing!

* * *

After several long hours of frantic work Jethro tiredly exited the elevator and walked to his desk. Tony had made a breakthrough on one of the cold cases that he had been reviewing earlier that morning and consequently the few hours after had been manic. Tim had spent most of the time with Abby in her lab, helping her to retest the evidence while Tony, Ziva and himself had been rechecking the information they had on the suspects.

There had been a long moment when they had believed the case would once again go cold, as a new roadblock had appeared, in the form of a dead witness. One of the key witnesses too, and she had been killed in a car accident a few weeks ago, but luckily they hadn't needed her to follow the new lead. Abby and McGee had confirmed Tony's suspicions and so Gibbs had led Tony and Ziva halfway across DC looking for the address of their prime suspect.

After finding the house empty they had nearly given up hope, but Ziva had discovered a leaflet advertising mobile homes, with one of the cheaper options ringed in biro, a rather stupid mistake by the suspect, but then the case had been cold, hadn't it? He certainly hadn't expected them to show up looking for him at the caravan camp.

Tony had ended up face down in the dirt after Ziva threw him out of the way of the suspects speeding vehicle, narrowly avoiding being hit herself, which added attempted murder of a federal officer to the charges. Jethro had taken out two of the guys wheels, which had made the caravan on the back of his car swerve and he had then overcompensated and spun out of control, landing straight into the 'idyllic' lake the caravans were parked around.

All in all that part of the investigation had only taken about three hours, the rest of the time came from waiting for the apparatus to drag the car and caravan from the lake, make sure the man was dead, and bring it all back to the Navy yard, which had taken another three hours. It was now late, very late and his team were the only ones left in the building besides the security staff waiting to lock up. Gibbs sighed lightly. He was seriously overdue for a coffee, but it wasn't worth leaving to get one when he was so close to finishing his report.

He strode to his desk, acknowledging the silent greetings from his team as he sat down and finished up the last few lines, running a spellchecker to finalise. He nodded; he had only made two mistakes, both from tiredness. He quickly corrected it, printed it off and signed it, before turning to the stairs to add it to the pile on Jenny's desk.

"Director's already gone, Gibbs. She left a few minutes ago." Tony called to him. Jethro nodded and shrugged, walking back to his desk and throwing his report down on its surface. "In fact she looked a little down, didn't she Ziva?" Tony continued with an innocent look on his face. Ziva glanced up from her own report and briefly glared at Tony, before relenting and joining the ruse.

"Yes, she did Tony, she appeared very saddened." she replied, looking straight back down at her report to avoid Gibbs' gaze.

"Abby said she was upset yesterday too…" Tony said bravely, trailing off when he looked up and saw Gibbs staring at him. He began typing in silence with renewed vigour, knowing Gibbs was at the limit of his patience. After a few minutes and no head slap, Tony looked back up a little worriedly to see Gibbs looking up at the balcony thoughtfully. He glanced at Ziva with a raised eyebrow, and she shrugged, not having anymore idea of what was going on then he did.

"Go home; you can finish your reports tomorrow." Jethro announced, sweeping towards the lift as his team scrambled for their belongings, not needing to be told twice. He didn't hold the lift for them, preferring to be alone in his conference room for the moment. When the doors closed he leaned back against the wall and sighed. Today had been hectic, and though he hadn't intended to talk to Jenny about having a child while she was at work, he had hoped to speak with her before now. He was sure that having a baby with her was the right thing to do; it was all he had thought about whenever he'd had a free moment after his brief conversation with Ducky.

Should he go over to her house now to speak with her, or wait until she had calmed down? The sooner the better, particularly where Jenny is concerned, and with the way she holds grudges he would die of old age before she forgave him. He picked up his phone and speed dialled her number, frowning when it was unable to connect. Had she turned her phone off? She never did that, even as Director she was as much on call 24/7 as he was. He tried again a few more times and each time he was unable to connect to her phone.

Something was wrong. He could feel it in his gut. He quickly exited the elevator and almost ran to his car, neglecting his seat belt in his haste to leave the NCIS garage. That bad feeling in his gut was getting stronger, and he had a sinking feeling that he would be too late. Was she even at her home? Had her detail gotten her there safely? He ignored the basic road safety laws and brought his cell phone to his ear, calling Melvin.

"_Yeah?_" Melvin answered his voice thick from sleep. Gibbs glanced at the clock on his dash board and realised it was _reeeally_ late, or early depending on your point of view. He spared a thought to hope he hadn't woken up Melvin's entire family.

"It's Gibbs. Did you get Jen home tonight?" he asked, cutting to the chase. He heard Melvin sigh angrily.

"_Yes Agent Gibbs. I am actually capable of doing my job._" he replied hotly, annoyed with the implication that he would have forsaken Jenny's safety and left his post to go home early. "_Why?_"

"I got a bad feeling… I tried calling her cell but it won't connect." Gibbs confided, his eyes alert for other vehicles on the road, despite most of his attention being on the call.

"_I'll get dressed and go round._" Melvin said his voice alert now. Everyone knew about Gibbs' gut feelings, and especially how they turn out to be right. He wasn't going to chance Jenny's health by ignoring a potential threat, any potential threat.

"Right." Gibbs said, ending the call and feeling a little better that he would have backup if something was terribly wrong. He spent the rest of the drive keeping himself calm with thoughts like, maybe her battery ran flat and she didn't put it on to charge, or maybe she had company and didn't want to be disturbed. Okay, that one did nothing to keep him calm, though he would feel very idiotic if he got there and she opened the door, completely fine and a little pissed at the intrusion. At least she would be alright though, that was the main thing.

He pulled up outside her house and looked around. Her bedroom light was the only one on, but that still made him worried. Then a little vindictive voice spoke up. If she is with company and his next actions disturbed them then she had no one to blame but herself. After all, she was never supposed to be out of contact. He smirked to himself and then exited his vehicle, throwing a glance around him for Melvin but not seeing him. He'd just have to start without him.

Gibbs stalked up to Jenny's front door and tried the handle. Locked, though whether that was a good sign or a bad one remained to be seen. He quickly picked the lock and slipped inside, closing the door gently behind him and looked around. Her briefcase was lying in the entrance hall by his feet which struck him as unusual. She usually took it straight through to the study. He crept down the corridor and stuck his head around the door frame of her study, realising why she hadn't been in here. Movies, books and empty mugs of hot chocolate were randomly dotted around the room, and he knew that it was exactly how Carson had left it. The kid didn't even realise how much of an impact he'd had on Jenny's life, on both their lives.

Gibbs smiled sadly and walked back to the front door, turning to look up the stairs. He drew his weapon and ascended the stairs as quickly as he dared; already knowing which stairs creaked so he could avoid them easily. As he reached the top of the stairs his eyes widened and he knelt down to examine the article of clothing at his feet. It was her jacket. Now he did seriously think he may be intruding but something kept him from turning around and walking away. He stood up and crept closer to her bedroom, noting with a certain amount of dread that her shirt, coat and purse were scattered on the floor in a clothes trail. His one happy thought was that he couldn't see any male clothes anywhere, and Jenny was not the submissive type that would allow someone to disrobe her completely and still be fully clothed.

Jethro peered into the bright bedroom and looked straight at the bed, relief flooding him when he noticed it was made and there was no sign of any kind of scuffle, sexual or otherwise, but then his bad feeling came back with a vengeance. If she wasn't with someone, where was she? Why were her clothes littering the landing? Why was she unreachable? Jethro stepped into her bedroom and looked around, realising that her suit trousers were just in front of her bathroom door. He didn't creep this time, he just ran the last few metres to the bathroom door and threw it open, his heart almost stopping at the sight that met his eyes.

The bath was full of bubbly, lavender scented water and Jenny was reclining in it, her head just under the water line. Gibbs threw himself into action and dropped his gun, which thankfully still had the safety on, dashed to the side of the tub and threw his arms in. He grabbed hold of her limp body and dragged her up and out of the still warm water, panicking that he might be too late. He should have checked up on her sooner.

Maybe if he hadn't been so preoccupied with thoughts of her having company he would have charged up the stairs and found her earlier. He cursed himself as he laid her carefully on the cold floor and made sure her airway was clear before he started mouth to mouth. He had let her down, had she intended to do this? No, he knew she hadn't but the panic he was in made the possibility too likely to discount.

He was very surprised when she began coughing and spluttering after only a few compressions, her arms coming up to ward him off as she rolled over onto her side and emptied her lungs of what little water that she had managed to inhale. He sat back a little, relieved that he hadn't been too late; in fact, he had been right on time. Judging from how quickly she had responded and what little she had brought up, she must have only just slipped under the water.

"Jen?"

* * *

"Jen?" Jethro's voice pierced through the sound of her coughing, which was dying down now, and she desperately tried to recall why he was at her house, but came up empty. The last thing she remembered was getting a bath, alone. She hadn't really seen him all day. Her throat ached from the water she had breathed in and from her subsequent coughing, so she rolled back on to her back and just concentrated on steadying her breathing.

She groaned, opening her eyes to look around her and assess the situation. Jethro was kneeling next to her, his eyes full of concern as he brushed her wet hair from her face. She frowned, realising that the arms of his clothes were soaked.

"Jethro?" she said, her voice a little raspy. "What are you doing here?" she asked, utterly confused. She was exhausted from the hard day at work and her crying sessions, and the cold floor under her was uncomfortable, so she was within her rights to feel slightly exasperated that she was now looking up into the face of the person she had been trying to avoid. He looked down at her body momentarily and then his eyes snapped back up to her face, before he turned with something akin to embarrassment on his face, almost as if he had only just realised something. Her cheeks flooded with heat when he turned back to her and covered her with a large bath towel. Dear god, she was naked! Now that she was aware of that fact she gripped the towel to her body like a shield and glared at him, feeling her best defence mechanism when it came to Gibbs flaring up; her temper.

"Care to tell me what, exactly, you are doing here?" she hissed, trying to tuck the towel around her body as well as she could manage, considering she was still lying on the floor. She refused to sit up until he had backed off, which was exactly what he wasn't doing.

"What's rule 3?" he asked, his voice deceptively calm. Jenny glared at him in disbelief for a moment.

"What?" she fumed. That was all he had to say?

"Rule number 3, Jen. What is it?" he pressed, leaning closer to her, his gorgeous blue eyes boring into hers in that perfectly innocent but completely sinful way that left her reeling.

"Never be unreachable." she recited distantly, until the words penetrated her mind. "I wasn't. You could have just called my cell!" she growled, averting her eyes so she could concentrate and regroup. _He hates you remember, don't let him walk all over you!_

"I did. No connection." he replied, his voice slightly harder. Jenny closed her eyes momentarily, recalling that she had stepped on the screen earlier and broken her Blackberry. She hated it when he was right, which just made her fight harder to not let him know he was right.

"I have a landline also, Jethro!"

"Your cell is never off, so why try the others if that's a sure indicator of a problem?" he questioned and Jenny shook her head at him, wondering how he had made that leap, while she shuffled away from him, sitting up with her back against the bath.

"Since when has my cell phone been a sure indicator?" she asked, annoyed by his presumptuousness. Did he think he knew everything? Maybe her battery had died.

"James Dempsey mean anything to you?" he asked sarcastically, remembering when she had last been unreachable. "Besides, if I had tried every means of communicating with you, you would have drowned long before I even set off to find you." He shouted, his temper flaring in response to her obstinate attitude.

"I would not have drowned, Jethro, I would have woken up choking. It's not the first time I've fallen asleep in the bath." she contradicted him, feeling a little stung that he thought her that careless. Exhaustion had taken its toll today, but she had still woken up. Granted Gibbs had tried to help her, but she refused to believe she had needed it. It had just been awkward timing.

"Know that for a fact?"

"Did it never occur to you that maybe I just wanted some privacy? What couldn't wait that you had to find me now?" she questioned, glaring at him as she attempted to tuck the towel more securely around her after finding it almost dropping away on her left.

"We just closed a cold case so I decided to let you know." he said, but his tone made her suspicious.

"It couldn't wait till tomorrow?" she hissed, narrowing her eyes.

"I thought it would be _best for you_ to know now." he replied, his eyes flashing dangerously and control of his temper snapping. Jenny was taken aback at his vicious words, recognising them from what she had said to him the night Carson had stayed over and she finally lost control. She stood, clutching her towel tighter in an attempt to remind her rage saturated brain that she needed to keep it there. Gibbs followed suit, his clothes dripping audibly on the floor.

"Is that it?" she snarled.

"Yes." he replied, tone for tone.

"That's crap, Jethro, and you know it! Just say what you came to say!" she yelled, watching as he visibly held himself back from advancing upon her, and a thrill of fear, or excitement, coursed down her spine.

"I'm not sure I want to anymore." he groused, trying to rein in his temper. Unfortunately he was the only one doing so.

"Cut the crap and just say it!" Jenny growled, attempting to keep her breathing under control so she didn't grab him and drag him to bed. Arguing with Jethro had always had this effect on her, but now she knew how little he really cared for her, she was adamant she would train her body to hate him rather than love him.

"I wanted to talk about children." he said finally, glaring at her calculatingly.

"What? What children?" she shouted exasperated. The sudden apparent switch in topics left her reeling and she realised how tired she really was.

"Our children." he elaborated and Jenny shook her head at him, feeling a headache coming on.

"We don't have any-" then she stopped speaking and stared at him. "wh-children? Our children?" she asked incredulously. _Surely he can't mean… not after…_ "I don't believe you!" she exploded, stepping away from the bath and wrapped her towel more firmly around herself. "I asked you to stay with me, you said no! With a smile! What? Did you think that I'm so desperate I would just throw myself in your arms when you ask? That I'd just drop on my back when you decide you want something from me?" she fumed, getting close enough to poke him in the chest with a finger.

"No, but I sure as hell didn't expect this!" he exclaimed, brushing her off and throwing his hands up.

"What? Am I not as compliant as you imagined?" she mocked, resting a hand on her hip and sassily giving him an angry once over.

"No." he yelled, and as her face contorted with rage he held up his hands as if to ward her away. "No, that's not what I meant. I saw how much Carson made you upset, and it affected me too." he divulged, hoping to get Jenny on the same page.

"So I'm the cause of your misery?" she shrieked indignantly.

"No, now would you please shut up for a minute!" she fumed silently and he nodded his head gratefully. "I realised that you are the only woman I know who I could see as the mother of my child." he said softly, watching as his words penetrated her brain and she relaxed slightly. Wow. That was probably the last thing she had expected him to say, but then he could just be making it up because it sounds better then 'I'm out of options'. Jenny watched his face for a moment, hoping to see any indication of falsehood, but there was none.

"I'm not sleeping with you." she stated, hugging herself as her skin cooled, no longer given the illusion of warmth from her anger.

"I don't expect you to." he murmured, amused.

"Then you already have an idea of how to do this?" she asked surprised that he had taken the time to plan something out. was it that important to him?

"Are you really considering it?" he asked innocently, and Jenny couldn't stop her head from nodding immediately.

"Yes." she replied. _Of course I am!_ She thought emphatically. After her daydream of a few hours ago, seeing the perfect little family she could have had with Jethro, she couldn't say no. She wanted his children and had done for a while, at least unconsciously. Actually she yearned for them. How could she say no?

"Then yes."

"Donations-" she began and he nodded with her.

"And turkey baster's, yeah." he finished, and she felt a shy smile tug at the corner of her lips, watching an answering one appear on his.

"Fine." she agreed, suddenly going on the alert when the front door audibly opened. "Who is that?"

"Ah, probably Melvin." Jethro answered, running a hand through his hair.

"You called Melvin?" she said, appalled.

"You were unreachable." he reminded her and she shook her head.

"Go! Tell him everything is fine." she ordered. "Then come back. You aren't going home tonight, you're soaking." she noticed his sly expression and she shook her head again, curbing the excited part of her brain that was already imagining making her babies the natural way. "I have a spare bedroom Jethro, you know where it is." she said airily, closing the door on him and letting out a deep breath.

She was still reeling from what he had said, what she had agreed to. She shook her head and turned out her light, dropping the towel to the floor and crawling under her bed-covers. She was asleep as soon as her head touched the pillows.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A.N.: Thank you to enanfran, hopesmom, CSI-GSR-BILLY-LOVER, itzcheeseball, DD Agent, Lost. on. the. Battlefield, alix33 and Mrs. Elizabeth Gibbs for reviewing!

* * *

A shrill noise broke the silence of the early morning and Jenny jolted awake, glaring at her alarm clock. It continued to beep, the digital numbers showing her it was 0430 and she groaned, burying her head back in her pillow momentarily before throwing her arm out to slap the off button. The only thing she really hated about her job was the ridiculously long hours she had to put in to get through the paperwork mountain waiting in her office for her. Every morning for the last few months she had been getting to work for 0600 just to get a head start so she didn't have to bring it home with her.

She sighed and dutifully climbed out of bed, heading straight to her bathroom to freshen up. Jenny huffed unhappily at the sight of her still full bath and pulled the plug out, seeing to her full bladder while she waited for it to empty. Once that was done she stepped into her shower and under the hot spray, happily scrubbing until she was wide awake and felt fresh and human again.

She recalled the events of the night before, of Jethro's intrusion in to her home, and her cheeks flushed. She had overreacted, she knew it and he did too, but her home was the one place that she was supposed to be completely safe. It had been incredibly humiliating to have to be rescued from her bath tub!

Their conversation crept back into her mind and she shook her head. What had she been thinking? She had to tell him she couldn't do this; that she had changed her mind and it was for the best. _The best for whom?_ She thought sadly, knowing that this was definitely her one and only chance. If she gave this up then she could kiss her future as a mother goodbye. Was she really ready to do that? Was it so terrible to have a child _and_ a job? She was a twentieth century woman, she could have both if she wanted and it wasn't going to undermine her position as Director, was it?

Her hand stilled in her hair in shock, the shampoo running down her back. Was she really more concerned about what other people thought of her having a baby? No, no that wasn't it. She had a full time job; she had in fact just been groaning about the times she had to keep, how would she fit a child in her schedule? She was in no position to bring a child into the world; how would she care for it?

She loved her job even though it put her life at risk every day. Could she really justify having a baby while there was even a _possibility_ of her being killed at any moment? What if she was killed while she was pregnant and Jethro lost both of them? She recalled the haunted look in his eyes when he had awoken from his coma; his usually lively eyes had been dead to her. Was she going to let her selfish desire for a baby bring that look back to him? No.

With that resolution in mind Jenny towelled herself dry and wandered back into her bedroom, stopping dead at the sight of a little brown paper package on her nightstand. Had that been there when she had woken up? She didn't think so, but she hadn't heard the door open either, though if Jethro had left it for her she wouldn't expect to hear anything. Had he gotten her some breakfast? Or… her stomach dropped and she flushed scarlet. He wouldn't have? Would he?

Jenny cautiously approached the package, looking around for something to part the bag with. She grabbed her sidearm. She nudged the bag apart with the nozzle and gingerly looked inside, jumping back in both fright and embarrassment when she saw it. Oh god… it really was his… stuff. Her emotions ran from mortification to distress and then settled on anger.

She growled furiously. What the hell was she supposed to do now? She had decided just two minutes ago to put a stop to this before anything came of it, had he done this on purpose? Did he know she would change her mind? Had he plotted behind her back to do this and put her on the spot to see if she really would do it?

Jenny raised a hand to her face, distractedly massaging her temple while she took deep breaths to keep her herself from doing something she would regret. Shooting Jethro was _not really_ a good idea, no matter how attractive the prospect was at this point in time. She was _not_ going to march out of her room and down the hall to the guest room to demand to know _what the hell_ he was thinking. She _was_ going to put down her gun and get dressed while she figured out what she was going to do with his… donation. Jenny let out a sigh and followed through with her train of thought, resolving to chat with Jethro about his presumptuousness, regardless of her decision about her more immediate… problem.

* * *

At 05:30 Melvin arrived to drive her to work, and Jenny slipped into the car unhurriedly, her professional mask in place. Jethro must have already left her house during the night, the guest bed had been made and the sheets were cold when she had gone to check on him. It was probably for the best. She wasn't sure if she could have faced him without being thrown into a fit of rage after finding that package in her room.

She sighed and leaned back in the car, watching the scenery pass her by. She was being unreasonable, again. She had accepted his proposal to have his baby after all, how was he to know that she had wanted time to wriggle out of the agreement? They hadn't even specified a time frame of when to start. Maybe he had just decided that there was no time like the present, and with their ages it would be prudent to begin right away.

"Director? We're here ma'am." Melvin said softly from up front, not wanting to seem like he was impatient to have her out of the car. Jenny was pulled from her thoughts and looked around. They were indeed in the NCIS garage, how had she missed the trip?

"Thank you Melvin, my mind was just wandering." she confided with a smile, slipping out of the car. "I'll have Cynthia send you my schedule. If I don't need you before the end of the day, you can go home. I know Agent Gibbs disrupted your night." she said apologetically and Melvin nodded seriously.

"Thank you Director, but I'm glad he did. I don't know what I would have done if he hadn't and you didn't answer your door this morning." he replied, giving her as stern a look as a subordinate could get away with. What had Jethro told him last night? Surely not the truth? The worry underlying the look Melvin was bravely giving her said he had, and Jenny winced.

She hadn't really thought of what might have happened if Jethro hadn't turned up, so adamant was she that she would have woken up eventually. She couldn't stop herself from thinking about it now though. Melvin would have had to either break down the door this morning or wait for Noemi to arrive and let him in. Either way there was a chance she would have been long dead. Alright, more than a chance, she internally groaned; Jethro really had saved her life last night.

"Yes, well… have a good day Melvin." she told him, retreating from the car and walking swiftly to the entrance. She smiled to the security guard and passed through into the building, intending to go up to her office. She stopped though and thought for a moment.

Maybe she should go and see Ducky. Would he be in yet though? Probably, as he liked to get autopsy ready to receive long before the teams got a case, so they weren't still cleaning things when a body arrived. Jenny made up her mind and walked to the elevator, pressing the floor number for autopsy. She could always leave him a message to come see her if he wasn't in.

The ride was a short one and Jenny exited the elevator quickly, walking over to the doors to the brightly lit room beyond. Looked like ducky was in after all. She fidgeted just out of range of the door sensor, deciding if she should talk to him about it or not. Jethro would more than likely be confiding in him too, which might pressure him into telling her to go ahead with it. Then again, no one could make Ducky do something if he didn't want to do it.

She swallowed nervously and let out a breath. Where was that calm façade she had been effortlessly wielding just ten minutes ago for Melvin? Melvin didn't know her like Ducky did though, so he was easier to fool. She stepped forwards, triggering the door mechanism before she could change her mind and entered autopsy, moving towards Ducky with a sense of purpose. She could do this. Ducky turned around when he heard her enter and a warm smile graced his face.

"Ah, Director! To what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked pleasantly, walking up to meet her in the doorway where she seemed to be hovering, like an anxious horse getting ready to bolt.

"Its Jenny, Ducky, and… I need your advice." she replied hesitantly, trying to make the tone of the conversation she intended to have a friendly one, and he nodded, suspecting he already knew what was going on. He kept his suspicions to himself just in case what she wanted to talk about was related to her health.

"If I can help you, Jennifer, I will. Now, what is the problem?" he asked, gesturing to his desk so they could sit down and talk. They both sat, and he waited while she got comfortable, attempting to gather her thoughts.

"I don't know where to begin." she admitted, shooting anxious glances at the door like she was expecting someone to come barging in.

"Wherever you feel the most comfortable starting from." he replied soothingly, and Jenny nodded, thinking.

"It's Jethro." she said finally, and she watched as Ducky didn't seem to react in surprise. Great, Jethro really _had_ spoken to him about it. "He asked me… well he came to my house last night and we got into an argument."

"About?" Ducky asked curiously. What could they possibly argue about that could prompt him to ask her about children?

"Oh, that's not important…" she said dismissively, unwilling to tell him about her near drowning. She wasn't sure she could survive the humiliation of being sent to the hospital and everyone finding out.

"Very well. Go on." he prompted and Jenny smiled nervously.

"Well he said something while we were arguing. Quite frankly I thought he was just trying to throw me off so he could win, but he was serious." she said, embarrassed about her behaviour. "He asked me to have a child with him." she whispered, as if she thought saying it any louder would inform the entire building.

"What did you tell him?" Ducky asked, equally as quiet, watching her expression carefully.

"I said yes, but that I wasn't going to sleep with him." she replied, looking wistful.

"You don't seem happy about that." Ducky murmured, amending his statement at Jenny's mortified expression. "About saying yes."

"It was a shock. At the time it seemed like the right thing to say, but now…" she trailed off uncertainly, and then her face hardened. "He left me something this morning. He didn't even wait until we could talk about it more." she hissed, clearly unhappy about Jethro's tactics.

"Striking while the iron was hot." Ducky supposed and Jenny rolled her eyes.

"Be that as it may, but it was an unwelcome shock first thing in the morning!" she snarled. Ducky laid a comforting hand on top of Jenny's.

"Did you get rid of it or…?" he asked softly, not wanting her to feel pressured into telling him. It was a very private matter, but Jethro shouldn't have forced her hand so soon.

"Or." she muttered, looking down at her knees, her cheeks flaming. "I had intended to tell him I couldn't go through with it and then I found... that! I didn't want to waste the chance but…" she looked up, her eyes questioning. "Does it make me a hypocrite for using it after making that decision?"

"You hadn't informed him of your decision, and it obviously wasn't set in stone or you would have thrown it out, so no." he replied. "I do think you should speak about this as soon as possible though. Give each other time to think it through a little more before giving it another shot." he advised, hoping that Jethro's forward actions didn't cause any resentment between them. Jenny obviously hadn't liked being faced with the reality of her agreement so soon. Jenny nodded and stood.

"Thank you Ducky. For listening to me and for your advice." she said sincerely, smiling and turning to the door, a new sense of purpose behind her steps.

"You are most welcome Jennifer." he replied, watching her head over to the elevator.

* * *

A.N.2: My profile poll for 'Best Intentions' works now. Not sure when it happened but I've suddenly got a vote, lol.


End file.
